Maybe you’ve had trouble believing that God can be inside someone. He knows that some people pretend to be Christians. But, just because someone says they are doesn’t mean they are.
Let me give you an example. Let’s say a person claims to be the King of Belgium. He does lots of mean stuff. He steals things saying, “I am the King of Belgium. Give me that! It’s mine!’ It might make others say, “The King of Belgium is really mean! He goes out and robs people!” Maybe they’ll think that about all Belgians, in fact.
There’s just one problem with that example. The thief is not the King of Belgium.
Just because an impostor says he’s the King of Belgium has nothing to do with what the real King of Belgium is like. He is probably a very nice person. But, we can get the wrong idea about the King of Belgium if some robber claims to be him while robbing people. And, what can the King of Belgium do about it? He’s in Belgium taking care of the things he’s supposed to be taking care of. He has no control over some guy in another country who robs people while claiming to be the King of Belgium.
In the same way, if people call themselves Christians, it doesn’t mean they are. We are to be known by our fruits. It’s true that we all fail at times. Even the great Apostle Paul complained that he was always doing what he didn’t wish to do.
Sadly, too, many times Christians have no control over these fakes. But, by reading the Word of God, as we’ll see in a little bit, you can see what a true Christian is supposed to be like. Just remember, everyone makes mistakes. Christians aren’t perfect. But, all Christians have a part on the inside that doesn’t want to sin. That is God, the Holy Spirit. He lives inside each Christian, always working on us to make us better.
